Algeria, Cuba Discuss Boosting Ties

Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune meeting with his Cuban counterpart in the Algerian capital on Thursday (presidency)
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune meeting with his Cuban counterpart in the Algerian capital on Thursday (presidency)
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Algeria, Cuba Discuss Boosting Ties

Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune meeting with his Cuban counterpart in the Algerian capital on Thursday (presidency)
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune meeting with his Cuban counterpart in the Algerian capital on Thursday (presidency)

Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune discussed Thursday with President of Cuba Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez at the presidential palace aspects of developing bilateral ties on economic and commercial levels.

The discussions came six months after the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Algerian presidency said that the Cuban president visited Thursday the Martyrs Memorial, which is a historical monument that commemorates the Algerian Revolution (1954-1962) and the national struggle against French colonialism.

Government sources revealed that the Cuban president's visit seeks to embody the joint political will to reinforce economic cooperation and to exploit investment opportunities in priority sectors such as agriculture, the food industry, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and tourism.

They agreed to signing an MoU on strengthening cooperation in the medical sector in January, which coincides with the meeting of the high joint committee for Algerian-Cuban cooperation.

In 2023, the two countries will commemorate the 60s anniversary of sending a Cuban medical mission to Algeria to help the government build a healthcare system after it gained its independence

Five years ago, Algeria and Cuba signed an agreement to establish an Algerian-Cuban business council and to draw a road map to act as the foundation of economic cooperation.

Algerian Minister of Health Abdelhak Saihi and his Cuban counterpart Jose Angel Portal also agreed on exploring new partnership opportunities to expand cooperation in other fields.



Israel Carries Out More Airstrikes Deep inside Lebanon

File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
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Israel Carries Out More Airstrikes Deep inside Lebanon

File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)

Israeli warplanes carried three airstrikes deep into eastern Lebanon on Friday for the second time since a ceasefire ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel a month ago, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said.
No casualties were reported in the strikes on the Bekaa Valley town of Qousaya and the target remained unclear. The Israeli military said its air force struck “infrastructure used to smuggle weapons via Syria” to Hezbollah near the Janta crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border, about 9 kilometers (5 miles) north of Qousaya. Israel accused Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 of overseeing smuggling operations from Iran through Syria, adding that it had killed the unit’s commander in early October, reported The Associated Press.
Since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, the Israeli army has conducted near-daily operations in southern Lebanon, including shootings, house demolitions, excavations, tank shelling and airstrikes. These actions have killed at least 27 people, wounded more than 30 and destroyed residential buildings, including a mosque.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, said it has observed “concerning actions” by Israeli forces, including the destruction of homes and road closures.
On Thursday, the Lebanese army accused Israeli troops of breaching the ceasefire by encroaching into southern Lebanon. Israeli bulldozers erected dirt barricades to block roads in Wadi Al-Hujayr.
The Lebanese army later on Thursday said that following intervention by the ceasefire supervision committee, Israeli forces withdrew, and Lebanese soldiers removed the barriers to reopen the road in the area.
The US-brokered ceasefire, which ended the 14-month war, demands that Hezbollah and Israeli forces withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days, allowing Lebanese troops to gradually deploy south of the Litani River.